Rodarte ‘tulle’ around with ‘Black Swan’ costumes

It’s no surprise that the sisterly Rodarte duo of Kate and Laura Mulleavy were tapped to do costume Natalie Portman in Darren Aronofsky‘s psychosexual ballet thriller “Black Swan.” Portman, dolled up as the title character, can easily be mistaken for a punk Goth ballerina from the duo’s Fall 2008 RTW collection:

Fox Searchlight

Natalie Portman ruffles her Rodarte feathers in “Black Swan.”

NYMag.com

Looks from Rodarte’s Fall 2008 RTW collection.

The Mulleavy sisters were born in Oakland, spent a good deal of their lives in Aptos and graduated from UC Berkeley, but now claim Pasadena as their hood.

Their tattered, torn, cobwebbed and California punk vibe has graced the runway for numerous seasons and last year, they managed to tone it down to reach the masses with a Target collection (minus the $1,000 price tags).

Nonetheless, with a combination of their affinity for Gothic aesthetic, infatuation with ridiculous amounts of tulle and Portman’s high-wattage celeb clientele loyalty, the sisters fit right in with the Oscar-bait film about self-obsession and unhealthy perfection.

“Their clothes and collection around the time (we were prepping) were very balletic like — a lot of tulle and invisible lace,” Portman told Variety. “(Laura and Kate) are also huge horror movie fans — real horror movie connoisseurs. The two components, to me, made the perfect pairing.”

Portman also said that the Rodarte sisters “are artists, and they know everything about everything — from science to film to ecology to art. Their perpetual curiosity translates into really unique clothes” — like tutus. Everyone in the world can use a good tutu, right?